I started watching anime for my first time in 2020. Before then, I was just watching "people shows", which is what I calls shows like Gilmore Girls or The Vampire Diaries. Ever since that first Naruto episode that I watched in October 2020, I haven't turned back since.
I'm an anime fanatic. I've watched so many anime shows and movies of all genres at this point. Because of my knowledge, obsession, and experience with watching all of it, I can confidently pick out the best shows you should start with if you want to start getting into anime ♡.
🥡The 5 Best Shows To Start With🥡
Jujutsu Kaisen: This is a new anime with incredible action and amazing animations.
JJK aired its first season in 2020 and has been super popular ever since. The new season is coming out July 6, 2023 (so start watching this NOW).
I'd say the main reasons why you should start with JJK is because of the following:
It's a short anime. It only has 1 season out and the second one is coming soon; so it will be easy to get through.
There's always some sort of action going on. Even if you're not into action (which I wasn't before I started watching anime) it's illustrated so beautifully intense. It just makes you wanting to keep watching more.
All the characters have different abilities. All the abilities and character designs they have in this show are all unique to them and just unique in general.
The story. This shows story is about this high school kid who eats a devil's finger and is resurrected within him (as seen in the gif above). He then goes to this academy to learn how to fight and get stronger with other classmates. Seems simple I know, but the action and animation in this is so cool.
Demon Slayer: This is another new and popular anime that everyone and their grandpa has watched by now.
DS first aired on April 6, 2019. It currently has 2 seasons out and the third season is just now releasing its episodes.
The main reasons as to why you should start watching DS are because of the following:
It's a short anime. As mentioned, it will be easy to get through as there's only 2 seasons out and the third one being release right now (May 2023).
The animation. The look of this anime should convince you enough to watch it. It seriously has one of the most beautiful animations I've ever seen. It's so bright, clear, colourful, and smooth.
The plot. This anime's essentially about a demon outbreak (kind of like a zombie outbreak) and people are either killed or turned into demons (with all different abilities). Our main character (as seen in the gif) had his family slaughtered and his sister was turned into a demon. He then becomes a demon slayer and sets on a quest to kill all demons out of revenge and so nobody else has to face what he faced.
Death Note: This anime is a little bit older than the last two (as you can see by the quality of it), but nonetheless is still so captivating to watch.
Death Note aired October 4, 2006 and is technically only 1 season with 37 episodes.
The reason why I think Death Note is a perfect show to start getting into anime is because:
The cliffhangers. Almost every episode in this show leaves on a cliffhanger and makes you want to keep watching more and more. The suspense in this is incredible and you never know which way the story is gonna go.
It's short. This is yet again another short anime with only 37 episodes. It's easily bingable and all of the episodes are already on Netflix (at least in Canada it is).
The genre. This is a different genre then most common popular anime's, and that is that it's a psychological thriller. This show can get very dark and the intellectual dynamic between the main characters are so fascinating to watch unfold.
The plot. This show is about a high school student who one day randomly comes across this notebook called "The Death Note". Every time he writes a name in this book (with also following the rules that are explained in the show) that person dies within the next minuet. This show plays on the ideas of life and death, psychological torture, and whoever is smarter wins first.
Chainsaw Man: This is the newest anime out of all the ones mentioned on this list and is growing rapidly in popularity.
Chainsaw Man was released October 12, 2022 with only 12 episodes out for the first season.
The 5 reasons why I believe this show would be good to start with is because:
The animation. With this being such a new anime, the illustrations of it are so beautifully done. Everything looks sharp, crisp, colourful, and almost glossy looking. I mean, even look at the gif displayed above.
The gore. If you like blood and guts spilling everywhere, this is the anime for you. I'm not a huge fan of that, but with it being in an anime, it's actually enjoyable to watch and makes the fight scenes look even more intense.
It's short. Like I mentioned before, it's only 12 episodes. If you really wanted to, you could finish this in one day by binge-watching it.
The abilities. I think the rankings on how strong the devils are is really cool. Pretty much, however scared a person is of the object that the devil is, the stronger it is. For example, a fork devil would be a lot more weak than a gun devil.
The story. Chainsaw man is about this normal, poor high school kid that would fight devils with his dog that is half chainsaw in-order to make money to survive. He then ends up getting killed and the soul of his chainsaw dog is put into him and he becomes a chainsaw man/devil. He's then recruited by devil hunters (even though he is also technically half devil) to fight the worst of the worst.
Parasyte: This isn't a new anime, nor is it an old one, but is still such a banger to watch.
Parasyte was first released on October 9, 2014 and is only 1 season long with 24 episodes.
The main reasons why I think you should start watch Parasyte to get into anime is because:
It's short. If you haven't noticed already, I chose all short anime shows to recommend as I feel like it's easier to get through and won't feel like a hassle to watch. Again though, this only has 24 episodes.
The genre. Just like Death Note, this is a different type of anime show compared to the normal action/ romance ones that are extremely popular. This one is a science fiction horror that plays on the concept of an alien invasion.
The animation. I know this doesn't seem as good as Demon Slayer or Chainsaw Man, but there's something about this animation that was really eye-catching for me. It's clean and has this dark feel to it that makes you feel like danger is around every corner.
The story. This is about a guy in high school that gets infected with a parasitic alien organism. They both need to learn how to co-exist with each other and while the human has one thing in mind, the parasite as another thing in mind. This show plays on the themes of survival, alien invasions, and humanity.
🥡Conclusion🥡
All of these shows are stellar. They are also all very short and easy to watch within a week if you make the time for it. I truly think you can fall in-love with anime by watching any of these as they are so easy to like and appreciate because of how good their animations are, and the stories that follow them.
Hope this helped!